Chapter 2

Angela woke to the sound of someone entering the hospital room. She was curled up with a blanket in a large chair in a corner of the darkened room. She looked up to see Booth walk in with his entire focus and concern directed to his partner lying in the bed. Booth gently picked up Brennan's cool right hand between both of his own.

"She's going to be okay," said Angela after he had been standing watching Brennan for a couple of minutes.

"I know, I just spoke to her doctor. She said that if all of her tests came back clear, then they could release her once she's awake. I know she's been mostly unconscious since they brought you both in and the meds will keep her out for a few hours," explained Booth.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, as he looked over at Angela and saw the scrapes and bruises on her face and arms.

"I'm okay, just stiff and sore. I'll be colorful in a couple of days. Brennan got the worst of it," said Angela, standing up to move to the other side of Brennan's bed and picked up her other hand.

Brennan felt familiar warmth seep into her and knew that she was safe. Hearing voices that she recognized, she struggled to wake up but her brain wouldn't work as she expected. Booth's concerned face was the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes and focused after a bit of effort. She could see relief in his eyes and something deeper that triggered a warm flush through her body. After a moment, she mumbled, "What happened?" looking back and forth from Angela's injuries to Booth.

"Hi, sweetie," said Angela. "All you need to know now is that I'm all right. I'll talk to you later when you have had some rest," Angela quickly gave Brennan a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey, Bones," Booth said softly, "I guess it was your turn to get blown up! You're going to be okay. You just got banged up a bit. If all goes well, you can go home tonight. Go back to sleep. I'll see you later."

Brennan closed her eyes and seemed to fall asleep almost instantly.

"I'll meet you out in the hall. I have to call Hodgins so he doesn't rush down here to make sure I still have all my fingers and toes," said Angela, with a laugh.

She gathered her stuff quickly and left the room knowing Booth would appreciate a moment alone with Brennan. As she turned to have a last look at Brennan, she saw Booth move a lock of her hair out of her eyes and lean over to kiss her gently on the forehead.

If she weren't so "blown up" herself, she would have jumped up and down for joy. Things were definitely heating up between these two. She still hadn't caught up with Caroline Julian to find out about their mistletoe kiss. The rumors of that were hot enough. After a moment longer with Brennan, Booth joined Angela in the hallway.

"I want to check in on Anna. I know they brought her here, too. I hope they can find her family now that her mother's gone. Can you wait a moment and take me back to the Institute?" asked Angela.

"Sure, no problem," replied Booth.

As they walked towards the pediatrics ward, Booth was quiet and appeared distracted by some inner turmoil.

"I should have been there!" he suddenly blurted out.

"You know you can't be everywhere Brennan is," Angela said, to reassure him. "You couldn't have known that you would be called into court this morning at the last minute. You had no choice but to break your lunch date with Brennan. She knows that."

Booth, of course, knew this but didn't feel any better. Apart from his growing feelings for Brennan, it was his job to keep her safe. He thought back to the court case that he had been called in unexpectedly today to testify. He knew that Brennan had on occasion been called upon to explain their working relationship on the witness stand but today had been his first experience in several months.

It also didn't help that Caroline Julian was the prosecuting attorney for this case. Defense tactics proved to be a bit sloppy and she had been forced to object when the defense tried to discredit Booth's testimony, accusing him of being distracted by a personal relationship with his partner. Defense had tried to enter into evidence some testimony about some overheard banter between them at the crime scene and some lost evidence. He almost had to respond to the direct question, "Are you in love with your partner, Agent Booth?"

Caroline was easily able to object and, with the judge's support, to have it removed from the court record. Booth found he was unusually rattled by it. He concluded his testimony with the usual answer. He explained that he was the appointed FBI liaison to Brennan and her team at the Jeffersonian Institute and they were called in when their particular specialties were required on a case-by-case basis.

"I heard what happened in court today," said Angela, with a quirky grin on her face.

"Now, how the h-ll did you hear about that!" said Booth. He could never figure out how Angela always had up-to-the-minute gossip on every one.

"A friend of mine was in the court room," replied Angela. "Actually she called me on my cell while I was waiting in emergency. It was a quick call or, I imagine, the nurses would have taken it away from me. I know they allow them in some areas but not near medical equipment."

When they reached the nurses station at Pediatrics, they were told that Anna was still unconscious and were directed to the department's ICU. They would be allowed to make a short visit, especially since there were no family members yet found to be informed of the little girl's condition.

It was a shock for both of them when they saw Anna. They were confronted with one of those scenes guaranteed to make their hearts ache. The little girl looked so small in the standard sized hospital bed with monitoring wires stuck on her body almost everywhere not already covered by bandages for cuts and burns. A cast covered most of her left arm and a respirator assisted her breathing as a precaution against the effects of smoke inhalation.

After introducing themselves to the attending doctor, they were reassured that her visible injuries were not severe and would heal quickly. Their current worry was the possibility that she might slip into a coma. Anna had been very lucky when the bomb exploded. Playing at the back of the store protected her from the worst of the blast that instantly killed her mother and the deliveryman. Firefighters had found her unconscious under an overturned couch.

Angela went to the side of her bed, touched her hand and said, "Hi, sweetie. It's Angela. Do you remember me? Dr. Brennan's friend Booth is here with me too. We hope you get better soon. I have to go now but, I promise that I will see you later." She gently touched the girl's cheek and then left the room with Booth.

[Anna knew something bad had happened but couldn't remember what it was. When she saw two people come into the room, she didn't know who they were. After the woman spoke, she remembered meeting them earlier. The doctor's mother had wanted Anna to pass on a message. She remembered being told about Booth, as well. She didn't know where her Momma was but was glad there was someone nice to come visit her. This helped a little but she really wanted her Momma.

She needed to sort out why she was sitting on the chair beside the bed wearing her favorite red jumper when she could also see herself covered with wires and stuff. She didn't feel like she was lying on the bed. It was all very confusing. She could move her arms and legs while sitting on the chair but nothing she tried would move the arms and legs of the person just like her on the bed.

She remembered what her Momma had told her about spirit people leaving their old bodies behind when they died and went to heaven but she knew she wasn't dead. She didn't know this could happen when you weren't dead. She decided the person in bed must be asleep but she felt wide-awake. If the body in the bed was hers, she was afraid to think about waking up. All those bandages meant waking up was going to hurt. She remembered she fell down last week and scraped her knees. That hurt a lot but her Momma took care of them and they only hurt for a little while.

She suddenly realized that Angela and Booth were leaving and decided quickly to follow them. Maybe they would be able to help her find her mother. She jumped up, took a quick look at herself in the bed and ran after them. If she wasn't so worried about her mother, this might actually be fun.

Angela and Booth left the hospital. On the way, Angela tried to use her cell phone to let Hodgins know she was on her way back to work but all she got was static. She wasn't sure what was wrong since it had worked quite fine an hour ago. Even the SUV's radio wouldn't work. Too worried about other things, they both just ignored these occurrences as irritating problems of technology that never worked when you needed them. They stopped by Brennan's apartment so Angela could pick up some clothes for her that Booth would take back to the hospital later.