A/N Hello my darlings! Hope you are all well and life is treating you good. This chapter took forever because I kept getting distracted by much less exciting things, but I now have about nine whole weeks doing nothing, so there will be no more excuses for me not to write! Thanks a bundle for all the reviews, each one made me happy when life gave me lemons. This chapter is dedicated to my buddy Ollie who is currently on holiday in Greece (the lucky cow) so she won't get to read it for a while, and also to another friend of mine who got some really crappy news last week. Bad things sometimes do happen to good people and it sucks. But enough of my drama and onto Temperance's drama - wahey!!!

Agent Hughes stepped into the main lobby of the Jeffersonian Institute. He was a tall man, at least six feet, with sandy hair which looked like it was in need of a cut, and a beard to match, holding a pile of files under his arm with paper spilling out of them. His shirt was hanging out at the back and had a stain on it, and one of his shoes was untied. As Temperance came down the stairs from her floor to meet him, Angela following close behind, she could see that he was almost the total opposite of the organised and composed Seeley Booth. Once again, as it had so many times over the past hour or so, she thought about where he could be and why no one had heard from him. But she knew why Hughes was here – he had bad news.

As soon as she had got a call from Anna at the front desk, she felt the ground go from under her feet. Booth had told her a while ago about when he had had to 'do the honours' as he had called it – inform a fellow agent's wife or girlfriend that they had been involved in an altercation resulting in their death – and how the families reaction was the worst part of it. She asked Angela to go with her for moral support, and also to make sure she didn't lose her head. Anna had said that Hughes wanted to come to meet her in her office, but she had refused – she would still have to work there and didn't want every corner of the lab to remind her of when she was told that her boyfriend wouldn't be coming home, that her children would never know their father, and that her whole world had fallen apart. It was easier to do it in the lobby, because there was another entrance at the rear of the building that she could enter through and never have to be reminded of what was about to happen, plus there would be plenty of people about to prevent her from totally freaking out and collapsing in a heap on the floor.

As the two women reached to bottom of the stairs, Agent Hughes looked up and caught Temperance's eye. The look on his face, a mixture of sadness and pity, confirmed what she already knew – Booth was dead.

"Dr Brennan?" He addressed her in a soft, gentle voice, one that she didn't expect. His eyes made him seem like he would be much more stern.

"Y-yes?" She felt Angela's hand on her shoulder, and she tried to tell herself not to cry.

"I'm here to talk to you about Agent Booth."

"Oh God..."

"He's OK, his car was involved in an accident on the highway. He was taken to the emergency room, and his condition is stable. The whole situation was pretty nasty, but he's OK."

She couldn't get past the first part of what he told her. Booth was OK. Everything else was just buzzing in her ears and she felt like her legs were about to buckle under her. Trying to think of something to say, all she could do was stare at Hughes, eyes wide and mouth agape.

"I want to see him."

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Temperance didn't remember much about the car journey to the hospital. It was all she could do not to cover her eyes with her hands. Angela wasn't a good driver at the best of times, but when she had someone yelling in her ear to go faster her driving became even more erratic.

When they pulled up in the hospital car park, they both almost broke out into a run to get there quicker. Although being pregnant made this difficult, she managed to make it up to the nurses' station without collapsing.

After discovering that Booth was on floor three, ward eight (called the Serenity Ward, in an attempt, Temperance thought, to detract from the fact that those unfortunate enough to be lying up there were most likely close to death) the two of them made their way towards the elevator.

"I can't believe he's actually all right. I just..."

"What sweetie?" Angela put a comforting arm around her. There had been so much for her friend to deal with lately, and this was the icing on the cake. Hopefully things would be much better for her from now on. She certainly deserved something good.

"I care so much about him, I just don't have the words for it, you know?" The elevator pinged and the doors opened. They stepped inside, and pressed the button marked three.

"Temperance Brennan is lost for words? Someone help, it's a sign of the apocalypse!"

"Ange, I'm serious. We are together and having babies, and I honestly thought that I was going to lose him. After everything that's happened. But he's fine, I'm fine, and we still have a chance at this working."

"I'm happy for you, and I'm glad you're happy. It's about time!"

The doors opened again and they stepped out. They turned the corner towards ward eight, their shoes squeaking on the polished floor. The ward was bigger than they had anticipated, and Temperance was worried that it would take them a while to find Booth. They were faced with a sign which indicated that wards one to four were located down a corridor to their left, and the two of them walked in that direction.

Soon, they came to ward three, and now faced the task of finding out just where in the ward he was. It didn't help that she couldn't see into any of the side rooms (which the nurse had told her he was in) because the doors were shut for privacy.

"Angela, what are you doing?"

"How else are we going to find him?" She had gone to the first door, stood on her tiptoes and peered through the window. When she saw that Booth wasn't the man in the bed, she moved on and did the same thing at the next door. Now she was at the third door, and motioned to Temperance to help her look.

"We can't! We don't know these men, what if they are awake?"

"They won't mind, we're better looking than most of the nurses in this place."

Sighing, Temperance went to one of the doors and tried to peer through the window. Her stomach prevented her from getting close enough to the high window to see down into the bed properly.

"This one could be him, Ange, what do you think?"

"We won't know for sure until we go in."

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Slowly, Temperance turned the handle and pushed the door open. Once she had a clear view of the bed, and the figure lying in it, she gasped and tears fell from her eyes and began to run down her cheeks.

There was tall, strong Seeley Booth, bruises and cuts covering his face. The hospital blanket was drawn up under his chin so she couldn't tell the full extent of his injuries, but he looked like he'd been through a lot. Wires snaked out of his skin in various places and connected to machines. But seeing the steady rise and fall of his chest filled her with hope – he was fighting and she was determined he was going to get better.

"Excuse me, are you family?" A red-headed nurse had come into the room and was standing behind them.

"Yes...What happened to him?" Angela asked, after sensing her friend was too emotional to be asking questions right now.

"A young woman was talking on her cellphone whilst driving down the highway. She stopped suddenly and and truck ran into the back of her. Then Mr Booth's car ran into the back of the truck. Unfortunately the woman didn't make it, and the truck driver is still in surgery. We aren't sure what will happen to him. But your husband was very lucky, Mrs Booth" the nurse said to Temperance.

"Oh, they aren't married yet."

"I see," she said, turning back to Angela. "He'll be awake soon, but probably not in a very talkative mood. I'll come back a bit later."

The nurse left and Temperance heard the door close after her. She sat down in the chair beside the bed and reached out for Booth's hand, resting her head in her own. It had been a long day and she was tired, so it was a fight to keep her eyes open and stay awake.

The sound of shifting beside her made her open her eyes, to see Booth awake and looking at her.