Disclaimer: I thought they were mine for a little while. Then I woke up.
Author's note: This chapter wasn't planned, it just felt right. I hoped to give some insight into Casey's character. Keep the feedback coming, It helps shape the story.
Cam was the first one to spot Zach in the hallway walking toward Casey's room. Booth and Hodgins had been back almost twenty minutes. She grabbed Booth's sleeve and pulled him away from the door. Booth put a hand on his shoulder before he went in. "You okay, kid?" Zach paused only a moment before nodding. "She's fine," Booth added.
Ha swallowed hard, and entered the room. Angela and Hodgins were leaning against the wall, while Brennan was trying to convince Casey that the skull could wait until tomorrow. She was losing the battle, as the girl was picking at the mass amount of tape securing her IV. There wasn't a doubt in anyone's mind that as soon as she got it loose, she intended to flee. It was lucky that the paramedic that started it was a firm believer in tape. There were still several layers to go.
Angela caught Zach's eye, and motioned for him to come forward, which he did, albeit reluctantly. Casey and Brennan looked up at him, Brennan with relief, Casey with a hint of a smile. Hodgins smiled, glad that the younger man had gotten up the courage to see her. He wished they had taken time to have that talk, but Booth had bad timing. Oh, well. He still had to drive him home.
"I think I'll go get some coffee," said Angela. "Who's with me?"
Catching on, Brennan stood up. "I'm in." The two women started toward the door before realizing Hodgins hadn't moved. "Jack, we're going to get coffee."
"No, thanks. I'll just wait."
"Okay," said Angela. "We're going to vacate the room and give these two a chance to talk."
"Yeah, I got that. I plan to stay and eavesdrop." Angela swiftly grabbed him by the collar and proceeded to drag him out the door. "Well, on second thought, coffee sounds good." They were gone seconds later.
Zach sat down in the horribly uncomfortable chair by the bed. He had no earthly idea what to say. 'Sorry I almost killed you?' His mouth usually went off on its own with little guidance from his brain, and he was determined not to let that happen.
She was still fixated on the IV tape, but her efforts were slowing, as if she was focusing on it only to avoid looking at him. That didn't help his discomfort. Finally, he couldn't take the silence anymore. "What did the doctor say?"
She finally met his eyes. "He said you saved my life. That if you hadn't breathed for me, I'd be dead. And Jack said you took off your mask to do it, even though you thought there was a potential toxin in the room." She seemed almost confused. "You risked your life to save me?"
"I guess so," he said. "But I'm the one who almost killed you, so that seems like it would cancel out any gratitude you should have."
Now she really looked confused. "What do you mean? Zach, you didn't know what you were doing! And that's my fault. I never told you."
She looked deep in his brown eyes and saw the pain there, saw how much he was torturing himself over this accident. "It's my fault," she said, suddenly fascinated with the pulse oximeter probe on her finger. "I should have made sure everyone knew what I was allergic to. I just told Angela this morning. If I hadn't…" She didn't need to say it; they both knew that if Angela hadn't known about the Lysol, she would have died while the paramedics were figuring out how to treat her.
Zach flinched slightly at what she didn't say. "Well, I haven't exactly made it easy for you to tell me things. I guess I've been sort of a jerk. I don't really have an excuse, but I've not been feeling well lately. I guess its just stress, although I should be able to deal with stress better by now since there's so much of it in our jobs and-" He cut off abruptly as she breathed too sharply and grabbed her upper chest with a small moan. "Are you okay? What happened? Are you having another reaction? I'll get a doctor!" He started to get up, but she grabbed his hand before he could go.
"No, wait. I'm fine. Just a little sore. That state puts a lot of stress on muscles that people don't use all that much and now my chest hurts. I'm fine. Sit back down, please." He did, quickly and a little shakily as the flood of adrenaline receded. "I…well…" she looked back up at him, and tried again. "Please don't think any less of me over this. You guys weren't supposed to see me this way."
"Don't think…huh?" Of all the things he had expected her to say, that was not on the list. "Why would I think less of you? See you what way? I don't understand!"
She blushed, not really sure how to explain it to him. How could she explain her off-kilter way of blocking off the pieces of herself that she didn't deem good enough to share with others, or even acknowledge herself? The parts of her she had to ignore when she created her own self-image. The parts that were weak or broken. Finally, she settled for a statement that only confused him more. "I'm stronger than this."
He sat up, and leaned over her, taking her hand. "Casey, I know I don't know you as well as I should by now, but nobody sees you as weak. Do you think I'm weak because I regurgitate for hours if I have an omelet? If anything, it makes you stronger that you're fighting a battle against your own body. Autoimmune dysfunctions are hard to fight. But you are fighting. How does that make you weak?"
Casey made a face. "It's still embarrassing."
"Why? Why is it embarrassing?"
"Because, it's losing control of a major bodily function. It's no different than pissing in your pants." Zach almost laughed at that, but discretion prevented him from it.
"I can see your point, but it's not that bad. Nobody sees you as weak."
She smiled. "Thanks."
"Really. They're just worried about you. I am too."
"Don't be. I don't break. I just want to get out of here." Meeting his eyes again, she said, "But thanks for saving me."
He turned even redder than she had, but it felt good. His smile widened. He couldn't believe he got to be the one to give this speech this time. He only hoped he could do it as well as Booth or Hodgins could have. "Casey, this team is a family. We're all in this together. We've seen each other at our best, and at our worst. We all get sick, we all get hurt, but we're there for each other. Let us be there for you. We'll all need you some time."
"Family…" she said, "I think I could do that. "Of course, it helps that the 'family' includes my own personal Saint Florian."
Zach scanned through him photographic memory. "Saint Florian, patron saint and protector of firefighters." The thought warmed him. He wished he had Hodgins' confidence. Then he could have come back with something cool, like "Glad to have the job," or something like that. But he just wasn't like that. "I'm no saint," he said, looking her directly in the eye. "But I won't underestimate you anymore. I'm sorry I haven't been as friendly as I could have been, but I'd like us to be friends."
"I'd like that too," she said. "Maybe-"
She was cut off as the doctor entered the room. "Ms. McKnight, I think you're doing well. I'd still like to keep you overnight-" she opened her mouth to protest, but the doctor stopped her. "But, I've already spoken to your friends, and you, and came to the conclusion that it wasn't going to happen. So, I'm going to send you home with an epi-pen, and tell you to be sure to keep it with you. Have you been shown how to use it?"
"Yeah, I had one before," she said, accepting the small box. She handed it to Zach. "Here, would you put this in my jacket pocket?"
He took it and slipped it into the pocket of her lab coat as the doctor continued. "Just let me get that IV out, and you can get dressed."
"Too late," she said. "I already got it." She raised her left hand, still holding the edge of her gown on the site to slow the bleeding. Zach looked surprised. When the hell had she done that?!
He stepped outside so she could get dressed. The others were standing around, trying to pretend they weren't waiting to hear about what was said. "The doctor's releasing her. She managed to get the IV out," he added with a smirk.
Hodgins pulled him aside. "So, are you okay?"
He shrugged. "As okay as I could be after nearly killing a friend."
Hodgins noticed he said friend, rather than co-worker. "So, I guess you two are okay, too?"
Zach smiled. "Yes, we are."
"So, maybe we could have the talk you wanted on the way home."
"Yes, that would be good, but I sort of volunteered us to give her a ride home." He braced himself for Hodgins to get irritated that he had offered his services without consulting him first, but he simply agreed.
"No problem."
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Angela led the girl to her friend's tiny car, and smiled as she noticed Zach getting in the back seat without even being told. It said a lot, considering he usually refused to cram even his small frame into that "cargo space" as he called it. This gave her something to think about. Maybe she had misjudged Zach's recent behavior. Maybe…
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"Guys, my car's at the lab," Casey told them. "You don't have to take me all the way home. Just get me there, and I can make it from there."
"No way are we taking you to the lab!" Hodgins stated firmly. "Not a chance!"
"Why not?" asked Zach. "If that's where she wants to go…"
Hodgins rolled his eyes. "Zach, if you were in her position, what would you do after we dropped you off?"
"Go inside and finish the skull," he said thoughtfully. "Is that what you were going to do?"
She let her head fall back against the seat. "Ok, you caught me. But I need to do that."
"But Dr. Brennan said-"
"Not for Dr. Brennan, Zach, for me! You understand, right?"
Her eyes pled with his, and he knew what he had to do. "Drop us off at the lab."
"What?!" exclaimed Hodgins. "I knew she had lost her mind, but I still had some hope for you! You two have been up for two days, spent ten hours in the emergency room, one of you nearly died, the other could have…You guys aren't going to listen to me, are you?"
"No," they both said in that creepy unison they seemed to have a knack for.
Hodgins sighed. "I guess I'll stay too, in case you two get into trouble."
"You don't have to," said Casey. "I can bring Zach home when we're finished."
"That's okay," he said, glancing at Zach in the rearview mirror, hoping the young man would keep his mouth shut. He just wasn't ready to explain his house yet.
He pulled up to the front entrance to drop off his passengers. "I'll park the car and be right in. I still need to find out what happened to those fingers." Casey got out quickly, leaving Zach to struggle his way out of the back seat. He flashed Hodgins a grateful smile as he finally extricated himself. Hodgins knew better than to say it, knew it was a bad idea, but he also knew it was coming out one way or another. "Hey, Zach!" The young scientist turned around, and looked back. "Try not to kill her this time!"